edumacatedfoo wrote:
Those are some great suggestions.

I have the bagless kind and I have tried cleaning it all out to no
avail.
I'm going to try the suction right at the unit then I'm gonna try the
reverse suction method John mentioned.
If that doesn't do it, i'll have to look into getting somebody in to
try their magic.

One thing though: sometimes when I plug the hose into the "tap", it
takes a while for the vacuum to come on, I usually have to wriggle the
hose around so that the metal band latches properly to the "trap". Do
you think this might be part of the problem? maybe not enough of a
connection?

I'll let you guys know how it goes and thanks again.

I just had a similar problem with an
older (30 years) Sears central unit.
The suction was very poor. It turned
out to be a plastic, top hat-looking
unit in the dirt separator.
Unfortunately, the piece of plastic now
costs $70. I only paid about a hundred
dollars or so for the unit when it was
new. But, a new one fixed it right up.
But, do check suction right on the
unit. If the suction there is ng, then
you must look into the unit, as I did.